Nightmare or Reality
by Kagomegirl
Summary: What happens when Kurama's past deeds as Yoko, Hiei's forgotten love, and Yusuke's fearful past enter the picture? Will Kuwabara be able to smooth things over with the group, or will the teens nightmare's finally surface into insanity?
1. Chapter 1

"Yusuke" called the teacher as she ran her finger down the role. She picked up her pen and started to mark and "X" by his name instinctively.

"Here"

The teacher stopped her pen halfway through the "X" and looked up surprised. She started to scan the room.

"Right here" said Yusuke getting annoyed. This was the last class of the day and he'd already gone through this entire scene six times now. The teacher would call his name. He'd answer. Then the teacher would look up surprised, and scan the room. It was getting old. Once one teacher had entirely skipped over his name, but he couldn't really blame her.

Yusuke leaned further back in his chair. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing at school. He had much better things to be doing. He could be training for one thing. But then again he hadn't had a case all week, and if he was lucky wouldn't have one all weekend. He set his chair back down on all fours. He'd promised Keiko he'd try to come anyway. And it wasn't necessarily bad either. Unless you count the people who were still scared of him, the people who thought he'd gone soft, and then the people who tried to act like they cared about him somewhat. The there were the teachers who though that the world would be a better place without him in it. He hated those people. He wondered though the reaction of some of the people if they ever knew what it was he did for a living.

Other than most of the people school hadn't been half bad. Kuwabara was in most of his classes, he had two classes with Kurama, and one with Keiko. Most of the classes were boring, but he found that he actually liked history. They talked about World War II. It was some war way back in like 1940 somethin'. It was really cool. The teacher had talked about it then gave a quiz. He'd made an 82 on the quiz! His grade was now a solid 13.

Yusuke looked up at the teacher realizing she'd already begun the lesson. What was she talking about?

"Genetics play a major role in how you look, and if you have any diseases."

Genetics huh? He let out a sigh. He hated science.

The bell rang. "Finally" said Yusuke as he got up and started walking out of the classroom. He met up with Kuwabara and Kurama outside. Keiko had volunteered to stay behind and help one of the teachers out with something.

"So Urameshi" said Kuwabara as they walked in his front door. "Any big bad demons I should be worried about"

"Nope" said Yusuke happily as he closed his bedroom door and sat down in a chair next to his bed. "But hey I'm not complainin."

"Yes" said Kurama leaning against the wall. "Demon activity has slowed substantially since the Dark Tournament."

"Yeah" said Kuwabara with a grin on his face as he sat on Yusuke's bed. "Probably scared I'll kick their butts."

"The only thing they would be scared of is your ugly face."

Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped to their feet. "What the…"

"Hiei?" said Yusuke trying to think of how he'd gotten in without him knowing.

"Why you little…" said Kuwabara lunging at Hiei. He almost fell as Hiei stepped skillfully to the side avoiding him. "That's it you little midget" he yelled as his spirit sword appeared in his hand and he lunged once again.

"Ahh Kuwabara!" yelled Yusuke.

"You're goin' down" yelled Kuwabara as he brought his sword down over Hiei's head. A large CRACK sounded tearing Kuwabara out of his rage.

From behind Kuwabara, Hiei looked amusingly at the desk that was now in two pieces.

"Umm…oops. I didn't mean to do that" said Kuwabara shakily.

"Kuwabara." Said Yusuke, his eye twitching slightly. "That was my desk!" He walked up and punched Kuwabara square in the nose sending him flying into the wall.

"Hey." Said Kuwabara "It was an accident." He tried to make his nose stop bleeding. "Besides if your gonna blame anybody it was Hiei's fault"

"Hiei didn't split my desk in two!"

"Yeah well I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't gotten me mad."

"I don't care what he did. Know you've got me mad!" yelled Yusuke grabbing the front of his shirt and bringing his fist down.

"Yusuke!"

His fist stopped inches from his face. "Keiko?"

"What are you doing?" she asked angrily shutting the door.

"Look what he did to my desk" said Yusuke letting go of Kuwabara and pointing to the pile of splintered wood.

"That's no reason to attack your friend" she argued back.

Yusuke opened his mouth to argue back, but was cut off.

"It was probably just and accident anyway. Right Kuwabara?" she asked turning towards him.

"Yeah"

"Some accident" said Yusuke sitting down in his chair. The room fell into an awkward silence as Yusuke glared at a bleeding Kuwabara, and Kuwabara glared at an uncaring Hiei.

"So Hiei" said Kurama. "What brings you here?"

Hiei clenched his first and scowled. "That toddler has me playing messenger" he said tossing an envelope to Yusuke.

Yusuke looked at the envelope curiously. "What's this?"

Hiei shrugged.

Yusuke opened the envelope and read the contents. When he was finished he sighed. "What is it?" asked Kurama wondering why they'd sent Hiei instead of Botan.

"Well there goes my weekend."


	2. Chapter 2

"What is it?" asked Kurama curiously. The last time Hiei delivered a message instead of Botan the case had something to do with Yukina. Hopefully that was not the case this time.

"Is it another mission?" asked Keiko. She walked over to Yusuke to read the letter, but as soon as she reached out for it Yusuke tossed it to Kurama. She caught Yusuke's eye and glared at him. He just gave a sly little smile which caused her to get even angrier.

"So what does it say?" asked Kuwabara who had finally managed to stop his nose from bleeding.

Kurama skimmed over it. Not to bad. "It seems that Botan's busy with her actual job right now, which is why he sent you" said Kurama indicating Hiei.

"Hn"

"Well this seems easy enough" said Kurama. He handed the letter to Keiko. "It seems whoever it is stole the orb of Baas from the King's Vault. They were able to research the criminal though and have his whereabouts."

"That's it? Man that's nothin'" Kuwabara paused to think. "Um… what's the orb of Baas?"

"It's an ancient artifact that steals people's souls." stated Kurama.

"Especially kid's souls" said Yusuke remembering his very first mission.

"Wait a minute you know what that orb thingy does?" he asked.

"I had to get that and two other artifacts back my first mission." said Yusuke.

"I thought your first mission was to beat that guy at Genki's tournament." Said Kuwabara thinking back.

"No, that was my second mission. My first one I had to fight Hiei, Kurama, and whatever his name was to get back the orb, that mirrory thing, and that freaky sword."

"Kuwabara you really don't pay attention do you?" asked Keiko. "I even picked that up, and you've known them longer."

"Yeah well…" said Kuwabara mumbling and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "So…they know this guys whereabouts?" he asked changing the subject.

"Yes" said Kurama. "He should be near a place called the Breaking Point downtown."

"Sounds fun" said Yusuke getting up. "Well see you guys latter." Said Yusuke heading towards the door.

"Hey! I wanna' come" said Kuwabara.

"If you don't mind. I'd like to tag along also." Said Kurama.

"Uh…why?" asked Yusuke. "It's gonna' be a real simple case. I'll be finished with it in like and hour or so."

"There's nothing better to do" said Hiei.

"Alright. Fine with me, but let's walk Keiko home first."

"Can't I come?" she asked.

"No"

"But you said yourself it would be real easy." She insisted.

"I don't care how easy a case is I'd prefer it you weren't there." Said Yusuke.

"Yeah, I agree with him" said Kuwabara.

"Alright" she said giving in. "I have some homework anyway."

They all filed out of Yusuke's house and headed towards downtown, stopping on the way to bring Keiko home.

Once downtown Yusuke stopped at a phone booth to see if The Breaking Point was listed in the directory.

"So" said Kuwabara a grin forming on his face. "You're a criminal" he said indicating Hiei. An evil grin came across his face. He could defiantly work with this.

"We've been excused" said Hiei sneering. He watched with satisfaction as Kuwabara's happy demeanor fell.

"O.k." said Yusuke breaking the silence. "It wasn't listed so I guess we just wander around a bit till we find it."

"I don't like the sound of this place" said Kuwabara as they started walking. "It sounds like a bar or something"

"Probably is" stated Yusuke. "I don't really care. I just wanna' get on with my weekend."

"Look" said Kurama breaking into the conversation. The others looked at where he was pointing.

"What?" asked Kuwabara.

"There's a lot of demonic energy coming down from that way" said Kurama.

"Well let's go check it out" said Yusuke leading the way.

"I don't like all these warehouses. This place is real run down" said Kuwabara. "I don't like it."

"Where'd you expect demons to hide?" asked Yusuke. "Up in the suburbs"

"No" said Kuwabara. "It's just…It don't feel right that's all."

"Look if you're scared you should go back." said Hiei.

"I'm not scared!" shouted Kuwabara. He calmed down. "I'm just sayin' somethin's not right."

"There's a lot of demon activity down here" said Kurama. "Your sensitivity to the supernatural is probably just picking it up."

Kuwabara was doubtful.

"Well here we are" said Yusuke stopping in front of a boarded up building. They all looked up at it and saw a broken sign that looked like it was about to fall saying "The Breaking Point" Yusuke tried to push open the door, but it was locked. He was about to ram it in, but Kurama stopped him. They heard a voice from the other side.

"Whose there"

"Were just looking for a good time" said Yusuke. His eye suddenly caught some light through one of the boarded up windows. "We heard there was a party round here." The door creaked open exposing strobe lights, music, dancing, and many other things that happen at such parties. They started to walk in, but the guy stood in front of them.

"Pay up" he said in his gruffy voice, his hand outstretched. This is when he finally noticed that this was no ordinary guy, but a demon. Yusuke stuck his hand in his pocket just to bring it out empty. He gave a shaky smile. "Hey any of you got any cash on ya'" asked Yusuke as he turned to the group. Kurama pulled out a twenty and handed it to the guard, who took it and stepped to the side.

Yusuke felt disoriented for a moment as he stepped into the smoky room.

"Keep your eyes peeled" said Kurama. "Were looking for an Enrik demon"

"Like that helps" said Yusuke looking around. He didn't even know what kind of demon that was, and it didn't help that there were a lot of demons mixed in with all the humans. What was this place anyway?

"There" said Hiei.

They followed Hiei's gaze to the bar. Sitting at the bar was what looked like a human with the exception of horns. They started walking over to the demon. The demon looked up from his glass and saw them walking towards him. He jumped up out of his chair and started running. "Oh no you don't" muttered Yusuke as he and the others ran after the demon. They followed him out of the party area and through a door leading to a small warehouse where all the sounds from the club were cut off. They stepped into the semi darkness.

"Were the heCK did he go?" asked Kuwabara out of breath. They stood looking around them. Hiei turned sharply to the right.

"What is it?" asked Yusuke. In answer to his question a light green smoke started coming out surrounding them.

"What's going on?" asked Kuwabara nervously.

"I don't know" said Yusuke. The smoke covered them and except for the slight smell it did nothing. "O.k. this is getting annoying" said Yusuke to the group. "Hey! Is this the best you got? Come out here and let's see what you can really do!" he yelled at the demon.

"It's your funeral" they heard a high pitched voice answer.

"I highly doubt it" said Yusuke under his breath as the smoke started to disappear.

He called back his 'smoke' as the teenagers before him called it. The smoke gathered into four tiny crystal balls. He had what he'd come for now let that stupid Enrik demon do what he wished. He vanished into the air, and smiled as he heard the detective fire his weapon and the pitiful demon's last cries.


	3. Chapter 3

Yusuke picked up the orb of Baas.

"Well that wasn't so hard" said Kuwabara.

"I told you it wouldn't take long" said Yusuke putting the orb into his pocket. "Come on let's get out of here."

"Right" said Kuwabara following Kurama, who was leading the way out. They walked back into the club, and out the door that they had entered.

"Hey Kurama?" asked Yusuke when they were a couple blocks away from 'The Breaking Point'.

"Yes?"

"Do you know why there were tons of demons and humans parting together because aren't demons supposed to hate humans" asked Yusuke.

"Yes they do, but there are humans who are just as bad as demons, and some demons can't get what they want out of the human world without the help of humans." he replied thoughtfully.

"Why do they need the help of humans?" asked Kuwabara.

"So they don't get caught by the Spirit World." answered Hiei.

"That makes sense I guess" replied Yusuke wearily. "Hey Hiei…" started Yusuke, but stopped suddenly. "Hey where did he go?" asked Yusuke confused.

"Who cares?" asked Kuwabara.

"I think I'll be heading home also." said Kurama.

"Sure" said Yusuke. "Oh, and thanks for the help"

"What help?"

"Uh…I just felt like being nice" he stated.

"See ya' later" said Kuwabara waving to Kurama's back.

"Well I gotta' go take my cat to the vet tomorrow morning so I should go home and get some sleep." said Kuwabara.

"Alright whatever" said Yusuke as he continued to walk.

"Later Urimeshi"

"Later" Yusuke walked inside his house and shut the door behind him.

"Where have you been?" questioned his mom as he walked into the kitchen.

"Out. Why?" he asked. "I do something wrong"

"No" she said grabbing her purse. "I just wanted to know where you were."

"Where are you going?"

"Out." she said closing the door behind her as she left.

"Great. Yells at me then leaves" he yawned suddenly. "Man it's only six" he said rubbing his eyes. "That blast must have taken more out of me than I thought" His eye sight began to blur. "What's going on?" he mumbled as he stumbled into his room. He tripped over his broken desk and stumbled finally falling on his bed. "Why am I so tired?" he asked out loud, his letters slurred. His eyes shut and he drifted off.

Kuwabara walked up to his house and found a note attached to the door. "Kuwabara, I had to run into to work tonight, so don't forget to take out the trash. Love sis" he read aloud. He yawned. "Man I hate taking out the trash." he said, but he trudged inside and picked up the trash. He walked it out to the front of the house and nearly tripped over his own feet in the process. He kicked the garbage can before he walked away. "Stupid thing" he said to it. "You can't trip me" He suddenly stopped realizing how stupid he sounded. He opened his front door and rubbed his eye's. Man was he tired. "Must have been all those test's today" he said I think I'll go to bed early tonight he thought. He had to feed his cat first though. He reached for the food and started to put it in the dish. He missed the dish all together and the food spilt on the floor. "What the crap?" he said a wave of dizziness sweeping over him. "Something's not right" he said as he walked out of the kitchen. Maybe he should call Urimeshi. He started walking over to the phone, but never made it. He fell to the ground in a deep sleep.

Kurama walked in his front door.

"Hello Kurama dear how was your day?" asked his human mother.

"It was fine" he answered. He had to get upstairs. "I had a hard day though so I think I'll turn in."

"What about dinner?" she asked.

"I'm not hungry, but thank you" he said.

"O.k. we won't disturb you then" she said.

"Good night"

"Good night dear"

Kurama walked up the stairs and into his room. He sat down on his bed to catch his breath. Something defiantly wasn't right. He didn't even fight. Yusuke had taken care of it. So why was he so tired? Unless…he went to stand up, but fell backwards his legs weak with fatigue. His eye's shut. No I can't fall asleep he said to himself. I have to find out what it is that's causing it first, but his words were empty. No sooner had he said them he fell into darkness.

Hiei stood atop a tree. His hand clutched a branch. What was happening to him? He forced back a yawn. He had to get to Kurama. Something wasn't right. He shouldn't be this tired. His hand relaxed and he fell forward. His body hit the branch below him causing him to groan as the air was temporarily knocked out of him. "This isn't good" he said to himself trying to get up. He lifted the top of his body up off the limb to look, blurry eyed, at a black bird standing in front of him. He scowled and swatted at the bird. "Get away" he scowled as the bird turned away and flew off. He lost his balance however and fell to the forest floor. He groaned again. This can't be good he thought as he tried to get up again, but this time his limbs failed him. He laid his head down on the soft forest floor and fell asleep slowly drifting off into oblivion.


	4. Chapter 4

He set each of the crystal balls on a separate stand. An evil smile appeared on his face. This was going to be very fun. He sat staring at the swirl of smoke in each crystal ball as he contemplated his plan. Every thing was set. "Well let's see what we can do here" he said looking into one of the crystals. He swept his hand over the crystal causing the smoke to freeze. "Ah…Hiei" he said smiling. "Let's see what it is you think." he said sweeping his hand across the crystal again causing the smoke to start moving, but in a different manner. He looked at the images as they came across the crystal. "You've done many things Hiei" he said to himself as he thought. "But you are not guilty about any of them. This will prove to be quiet challenging." he said as he continued to search through the smoke. "Let's try digging a bit deeper" he said pushing certain images away with his mind searching for one he could use. He stopped pushing the images away. "What was that?" he said curiously. He pulled up the previous image. "Ah…" a big grin appeared on his face. "So it appears you are not as cold as you would like everyone to think." he said. He continued looking into the image. "Tsk, tsk, tsk" he said as if disappointed. "I thought of you as being an honest man Hiei." he said to himself again. He smiled again holding back a laugh. "Didn't your mother ever tell you? You should never lie you'll just get caught up in it." He thought about what it was he said for a minute. "Well it appears mother was right."

The swirling thoughts in Hiei's mind started to slow. The images left and he felt himself walking. He looked at the ground, but couldn't feel it. His feet seemed to know exactly where they were going though. Down the road, around the corner, through an alley. He found himself in front of a building. He looked up and examined the familiar structure, then out of sheer instinct he jumped back numbly, just missing the arrow that had now taken the place he had just been standing.

"Ah, Hiei about time." came a voice from a rooftop. "You're expected."

The door in front of Hiei opened. He walked in slowly, almost in a daze. It had finally clicked; this was the place he had come many times before. When he was younger, he had been discovered by a demon lord, he was sent to work. Of course, he was paid, but it wasn't as if you had a choice. You did the job, or…well nobody really knew the or part. Hiei had been his favorite for many years. He did the job, did it right, and didn't take crap from anyone. As his mind wandered on, his feet held a mind of there own as they walked through the crowd of demons playing cards, through the halls, around corners. He stopped in front of the door. He had a bad feeling about this. He felt as if he was replaying this same scene over, as if it had already happened before. His body didn't hesitate however. It was as if his body wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to what his mind was thinking. He pushed open the door, not bothering to knock.

"Ah, Hiei, I'm glad you could make it." said the demon lord from behind his desk. "And that lousy rat, I assume you took care of him." he demanded rather than asked.

Hiei instinctively reached into his pocket and threw a package onto his desk. The demon lord opened the package and looked at the vital organs of the demon Hiei had just recently killed.

"Ah, very good Hiei. I knew I could count on you."

Hiei remained in his place still standing their. He felt removed from his body, as if he was watching the scene take place below him. It was all to familiar. It was as if watching a movie you've seen before, but not remembering what was going to happen, but after you watched the scene you suddenly remember seeing it before.

"I have another job for you," said the demon lord. "It's different from the other jobs I've given you so listen carefully. You must complete this case it is extremely vital. Do you understand?"

Hiei stood there still unmoving and said nothing.

"There is some very important information that I must receive no matter how long it takes. This information is not in a simple file however. It is secure in the mind of an individual. Many others have tried to extract this information by means of torture, and believe me it is horrible torture, even in my book. So we will have to take a different approach."

There it was again, just like a movie. Hiei remembered hearing the exact words spoken before. He knew what was coming, but couldn't quiet remember what it was. He felt uneasy, but his body showed no affect as it stood their listening to every word that was spoken.

"You will make friends, or do whatever it takes to gain the confidence of this girl," he said handing Hiei a picture.

Hiei knew he shouldn't pick up the picture. If he did, he knew something bad was going to happen, but his body wasn't listening to him. He reached over and picked it up. As soon as his eyes caught sight of the person in the picture, the whole film clicked in place. He remembered the beginning, middle, and end. His mind screamed to drop the picture and run out of the office. Don't accept the job. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tear the picture up and yell at the demon lord. He wanted to get away. Ignoring the pleadings of his mind his hand slipped the picture into his pocket.

"It is very vital that you gain her confidence, no matter what it takes. I need that information. Do you understand?" with out waiting for a response he continued. "After you receive the information kill her"

Kill her. The words swirled around inside Hiei's mind as he cried out against being there. Despite what his mind was saying, he heard himself reply, "When do I start?"

"Now"

Hiei couldn't believe it. He found himself outside the building walking blindly. All the words were rushing through his mind. "Get the information. You must gain her confidence. Make her trust you. Get the infor..gain her confi…get…kill her." Hiei found himself walking behind a girl. He was walking up to her and was about to touch her shoulder when she turned around.

"What do you want?" she accused staring straight into Hiei's eyes.

Hiei jerked awake. His eyes opened he saw that he was on the ground. He stood up and fell back against the tree breathing heavily. The words still echoed in his mind. Gain her confidence. Get the information. Kill her. Ahh. He almost screamed out. He jumped into the trees and started running hoping beyond hope that he could some how outrun the voices in his head. "Kill her. Kill her. Kill her." The words soon became his own voice "You killed her. You killed her. You killed her." Hiei continued to run. He didn't know what else to do.

The demon smiled. This was working out quiet well so far. He turned to another orb. Kurama, let's see what it is you have done in your past. He looked through the smoke in the crystal once again, as if searching for certain memories. He found one he liked. "This shall do," he said aloud waving his hand over the crystal. Nothing happened at first. He did it again and this time the frozen image started playing itself out. Not just in front of him, but also in the mind of the sleeping Kurama.

"Hey Yoko" said one of Kurama's best friends walking up to him.

"Hey" said Kurama slightly confused about how he had gotten here. He accepted the drink Kuronaway had offered him.

"You ready for tonight" asked the demon taking a swig of his own drink.

Kurama felt excited. "You bet I am"

Kuronaway howled into the night air, obviously already drunk. He threw his arm over Kurama's shoulder. "Come on Yoko let's party"

Kurama started walking with Kuronaway and suddenly realized he'd been calling him Yoko. He looked around at his settings and he defiantly wasn't in the human world any more. A slight haze came over him as him and Kuronaway started hitting clubs and meeting girls. He quickly fell back into being Yoko. Images started swirling through his head however. He was meeting up with this guy. A pain struck Kurama in the gut. He knew what was happening. He suddenly remembered the night. No, this wasn't going to happen again. He tried to bring himself out of sleep. The images blurred through his head. No! No, not again. Stop, he pleaded with himself. Please stop. The images quickened and he began to moan. He didn't want to remember. Make it go away. The images started to slow. Then he saw it. The man, staring at him with lifeless eyes. "No!!" he yelled. He came out of the nightmare panting for breath.

"Kurama, are you alright?" asked his mother outside of his door.

Kurama did a quick check of his surroundings. "Yes, mother I'm fine" he said hoarsely. "Just fine"

"Alright dear, if you say so" she walked away leaving Kurama.

Kurama ran his fingers through his hair, and just sat their as images continued to spill through his mind.


	5. Chapter 5

"That was simple enough" said the demon. "Now for the two detectives. Let's see how cruel the human world is." He turned to another one of the crystal balls. Kuwabara. He started searching, pushing aside memory after memory. Not a thing other than cheating on a test in the second grade, or feeling guilt for accidentally punching a friend who came up behind him. No guilt, no fear, just happy, and honest, and… He stopped to look at a memory, hopeful. He sighed. …and sad. Well it was better than nothing. Might as well occupy him for a while so he won't go running to the others immediately.

Kuwabara found himself ridding along in the backseat of a car. He looked at the two people sitting in the front. They were his parents. Some how he had already known that though. He was filled with happiness as he watched his mom and dad talk to each other. It had been a long time since he'd ever had a dream about them and this felt like it was going to be wonderful. Suddenly he heard a screeching of tires and watched as his dad slammed on the brakes. Everything became disoriented and seemed to slow down as the car was hit and thrown off the road. He felt himself being thrown around the car as it flipped one two three times before slamming into a tree. He heard his mother's painful cry and wanted to put his hands over his ears, but he couldn't feel any of his limbs. He heard his father whimpering in pain. Kuwabara wanted to scream. He wanted to be able to move, to be able to help them, but he was stuck. He couldn't move, but he couldn't see what was keeping him in place. It was hard for him to see anything. He heard sirens in the distance, but they seemed so far away. He didn't hear his dad anymore. The whimpering had stopped suddenly. He heard people talking outside of the car. He couldn't hear his mother either. He tried to call out their names, but he couldn't talk either. His blurry sight continued to worsen. It was getting harder and harder to see. Then it all went black, and silent, and then there was nothing.

Kuwabara shot up, breathing heavily. He'd had nightmares like that before, about the car accident that had killed his parents, but it had never been that bad. He'd always been able to say something to call out to them, but this time he couldn't. He shivered at the thought.

"Hey bro"

"Huh?" said Kuwabara looking up at his sister.

"What are you doing of the floor? And what's with all the drool?" she asked.

"Umm…nothin" said Kuwabara as he struggled to think of how he made it on the floor, and when he'd actually fallen asleep.

"Hey, you o.k.?" she asked her little brother worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Kuwabara standing up. "I'll just go to my room," he said as he turned to walk to his room.

"Alright, whatever" she said watching him. Man did he act weird sometimes.

"Alright, now for the real detective" said the demon turning to the last crystal ball, Yusuke's. "Let's see how bad his life is shall we." The demon started to explore Yusuke's thoughts. He saw a small memory flash before his eyes, then it was gone. He went backwards through the thoughts to look for it, but it was gone. "Now this is interesting." He started to dig a little deeper. In response to his probing, a barrier came up, blocking him out. "What the…" said the demon slightly surprised. He started to chuckle. "Well this will be quiet interesting indeed. Now I really want to know what's in this little memory." he said starting to dig again. This time when he came to the barrier however, it did not push him back, even though it did try. "Not this time" he said talking to the crystal. He broke past the barrier and plunged into the hidden memory of the young spirit detective.

Yusuke turned over in his bed. He felt as if he was fighting against something in his mind. Pictures started to form in his mind, but he still felt like he was struggling against some unknown force. The images became clearer. He was walking through his own living room. He was suddenly aware that he was in fact hungry, and the thought popped into his head that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. He walked slowly into the kitchen. He didn't want to be here. A feeling hit him in the gut. He wanted to be in his room, it wasn't safe down here. He stopped at the thought. Why did he just think that? He felt scared and he didn't know why. He was starting to feel uncomfortable. His mother, who was fixing dinner, turned around.

"What are you doing down here" she demanded angrily.

"I…I…" he started stuttering slightly. "I'm hungry mama," he said looking at his feet.

"I'll feed you later now get back to your room, your uncle will be home any minute." she said rushing past Yusuke to turn off the stove.

Uncle! He heard a doorknob turn in the front of the house. Time seemed to stop. No, this was impossible. He was filled with fear that paralyzed him into that one spot. He wanted to run, run back to his room, but he seemed frozen. He heard footsteps walking closer and closer to the kitchen where he was. He found his legs and snuck out of the kitchen and into his room. He closed the door soundlessly behind him. He put his back to the door breathing heavily. His heart was racing and it refused to slow down. He heard the conversation-taking place outside his door.

"Get me a drink" he heard the all to familiar slurred voice demand of his mother.

"Don't you think you've already had enough." he heard his mother answer.

A slap reached his ears and he flinched. He tiptoed over to his closet. He feared of making the slightest noise. He didn't want to do anything to make that man come into his room. He opened the closet door, and stopped to listen for a moment as his uncle continued to yell at his mother outside his room. He walked inside his closet and closed the door behind him. He sat down in a corner, the close hanging above his head. His breathing came in shallow breaths. He wanted to take a big deep breath and let it all out, but he was afraid the noise would bring his uncle in. Instead, he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He buried his face into his knees and tried to concentrate on his breathing instead of the voices rising and falling outside of his room. He seemed to sit there for hours. Suddenly he heard a noise that made his heart speed up quicker, if it was even possible, and made his gut wrench with fear. His bedroom door was thrown open.

"Where is the little !#" he heard the slurred voice once again. He didn't even have time to catch his breath before the closet door was thrown open and a large hair arm reached in and grabbed 

him by the shirt collar dragging him out of the closet. He was too scared to speak, and he'd learned the hard way that it would only make it worse. He watched horrified as the big fist came down.

Yusuke jerked awake. He sat straight up in the bed and almost screamed. Before he could even think about what it was that had just happened, his mother knocked on the door.

"Yusuke! Yusuke!"

"What!" yelled Yusuke shakily.

"Keiko and Botan are here so get your lazy butt up" she yelled at him through the door. He didn't answer. "Yusuke!"

"O.k.!" he yelled angrily. "I'll be down in a minute now will you stop banging on my door!" His mother left and brought his shaky hand through his hair. He started concentrating on his breathing until he brought the pace of his heart back down to a somewhat normal rhythm. He threw the covers off and stood up. He walked into the bathroom He splashed his face with some water. He looked at his pale face in the mirror. "Come on Yusuke pull your self together. It was just a dream. Just a dream." he told himself, still in a shaky voice.

"Yusuke are you all right?" he heard Keiko ask. He almost jumped at her voice. "Yusuke?"

"I'm fine" he said not looking away from the mirror. "Just fine." He turned to Keiko and Botan. "So what do you want?" he asked Botan.

"I just wanted to know how the case went last night." she said.

Yusuke walked past her out of the bathroom, and into his room. The girls following close behind him.

"So how did it go?" she asked.

"How did what go?" asked Yusuke.

"The case, what else" she said looking at him strangely.

"Oh, umm…" he paused for a minute. Last night? Um…He couldn't think past the dream. He remembered. "Oh, it was easy, took like an hour." he said suddenly.

"Yusuke are you sure your alright?" asked Keiko a little worried about the look on Yusuke's face.

"I'm fine." he said to Keiko. He took the orb of bas out of his pocket and handed it to Botan. "There you go in perfect condition"

"Thanks. I'll go take it back to Spirit World. I'll be back latter if I have time." With that, she left.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to do something today, but it looks like you want to be alone." said Keiko still watching him worriedly.

Yusuke just nodded his head.

"O.k. well I'll see you later."

"Later" he said. Keiko turned around and left and Yusuke closed the door behind her. He went and sat down on his bed. He covered his face with his hands. He sighed. "Come on Yusuke" he said still fighting against the butterflies in his stomach. "Pull yourself together."


End file.
